Few Riders Take City Center-port Warwick Bus

The bus, with its brassy blue and green coat glowing in the Tuesday morning sunlight, turned into Port Warwick from Jefferson Avenue.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Wednesday, October 25, 2006.A story in Sunday's paper misstated the estimated future cost to run the Jump Over Jeff bus service in Newport News. The story said the third year of the service was projected to cost $4.6 million. The cost in that year -- if money were available -- would be $2.1 million. The erroneous figure came from previous news stories. (This was one of the "previous news stories" Text corrected)Published correction ran Thursday, August 24. 2006.Two stories, one on Dec. 15 and the other on Aug. 9, misreported the money available for the "Jump Over Jeff" bus line, which shuttles between City Center and Port Warwick in Newport News. The money available for the second and third year of the program will total $1.1 million in federal and state grants. (Text corrected.)

Inside, Kim Joyner, the driver, was all alone.

"Most days the bus is empty," said Joyner, a 21-year Hampton Roads Transit veteran.

City officials hoped that the "Jump over Jeff" route -- named for its leapfrog across Jefferson Avenue between City Center and Port Warwick -- would encourage more people to take advantage of the convenience and shop at the two developments.

But after the first week in late June saw 142 users, the service has seen an average of 51 riders a week since.

"I would say ridership is a little slower than I would have liked it to be at this point," said HRT spokesman James Toscano. "I think we can and will do better. It's just difficult to get people to change commuting habits."

The bus runs its loop from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week and stops every 20 minutes or so.

Because the project is still only weeks old and marketing has been minimal at the outset -- there is no mention of it on the Port Warwick or City Center Web sites -- it's highly likely the service will become more popular, officials said.

Still, officials from Port Warwick, City Center, HRT and the city plan to meet next week to come up with ways to boost the number of riders.

Among the early proposals being considered: direct mailings to likely riders, adding more signs at bus stops and getting retailers and restaurant-owners to help more with getting the word out, officials said. A more direct approach could involve offering retail and food discounts for those who use the bus.

Most of the $937,000 cost for running the shuttle comes from a one-year, $750,000 federal grant to reduce traffic congestion. HRT provides the rest. The grant provided two low-pollution diesel buses. The city has already received funding for the next two years.

The money available for the second and third year of the program will total $1.1 million in federal and state grants.

The second year will cost $1.1 million and would add another bus and expand the City Center service to the nearby Omni Hotel.

In the third year, the service would branch from Port Warwick to Christopher Newport University and The Mariners' Museum. That expansion would bring the cost to $2.1 million in 2008.

The optimism that ridership will soon increase stems, in part, with an expectation that more users will come when the newly open Marriott conference center picks up, officials said.

Festivals and concerts this fall are also expected to draw new bus riders, said Denise Olsen, spokeswoman for Port Warwick. City Center and Port Warwick plan to advertise themselves as alternatives to crowded malls this holiday season, an act that should also boost Jump over Jeff numbers, Olsen added.

"It's going to be a success," said Carol Meredith, manager of financial services for the city's Department of Development.

It'll be successful when more Hampton Roads residents ride it more often, she said, but she's also targeting something else: "That intangible, non-quantifiable thing: the buzz." *